


Midnight Drive

by socialgraceful



Category: Degrassi the Next Generation
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26855353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/socialgraceful/pseuds/socialgraceful
Summary: After the dance where Peter and Emma break up, Manny decides to leave with Alex. The two head to a private place where the two of them bond and soon new feelings start to rise.  Named after the song Midnight Drive by Still Corners.
Relationships: Alexandra "Alex" Nuñez/Manuela "Manny" Santos
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Midnight Drive

Manny watched as Emma walked off with the purpose to confront the gorilla. She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the gym.

“Looks like he’s going to be even more endangered,” Manny said with a sigh.

She didn’t feel that bad about it. Peter was a scumbag from the word go. She had tried to shove down her disgust when Emma started dating him. She wondered how Emma had justified what he had done to her. That video. That fucking video that still popped up in her life to mess with her. She looked around the gym and saw two boys laughing to themselves. One of them pointed at her and then pretended to yank down his shirt. Manny’s face fell and the boys laughed harder.

Alex stepped into view from the right. She looked over at Manny and then towards the two boys. She looked back at Manny and then at the boys. She started walking towards the boys and soon sent them packing with a number of shouts and threats. They ran from the gym barging into a girl on their way out. Manny watched them go with some satisfaction.

Alex walked back over to her, reaching into her back pocket and producing a handkerchief.

“You alright, kid?” Alex asked.

“You’re only like a year older than me,” Manny said.

Alex shrugged.

“What’re you doing here?” Manny asked.

“I yelled at Hatzilakos and she made me work here as a punishment,” Alex replied. “I’m done so I’m going to get out of here.”

“Do you mind if I come with you? I think I owe you for what you just did. Maybe we can share a plate of fries or something?”

Alex looked over Manny in her miniskirt and tank top. A sly smile appeared on her face.

“Sounds good,” Alex said.

The two of them walked out of the gym and Alex pointed out her car. The two climbed in.

“Anywhere particular you want to go?” Alex asked.

“Anywhere but the Dot. I don’t want to deal with Spinner tonight,” Manny said.

“He’s a chump.”

Manny laughed.

“Yeah, he is,” Manny giggled.

“I think I know a place,” Alex said.

They hit the road and the place that Alex said she knew was a convenience store. They got the fries, some other snacks and some drinks.

“Are we going to eat in the parking lot?” Manny asked.

“Nah, I know a place,” Alex said.

The two drove through the night. Alex spoke about one of her favorite conversation topics, about how almost everyone in their school was stupid in some way or another. Manny laughed and found something strangely comforting in the free way that Alex spoke. She held nothing back. There was no filter. She didn’t have to worry about anyone or anything. Manny wished she had that kind of fearlessness.

“You know,” Manny said after Alex’s rant about what creeps Toby and JT had been. “You’re making me nervous about what you think of me.”

Alex glanced over at her with a smirk.

“You’re alright,” Alex said. “You’re just a little bit lost.”

“Lost?” Manny said.

“Yeah, and you keep trying to find yourself in boys. But boys are so stupid that they’ll never be able to do anything for you.”

“I dont think that’s true.”

“Really? Can you name me a problem you’ve had in the last four years that you couldn’t trace back to getting involved with a boy?”

Manny thought back through her history. Craig, Spinner and Peter. Hell, she had almost gone with Dean, if it hadn’t been for Paige... she sat back in her seat.

“Fuck,” she said.

“It’s a hard truth isn’t it?” Alex said.

“How do you know this?”

“Because it was the same for me. I mean, I’ve done things that I’m not proud of. I only started making something of myself when I started hanging out with the good ones. Ellie, Marco, Paige and Jimmy, you know that crew. Trouble only enters my life when I hang out with Jay. You gotta figure out whose the best for you and hold onto them tight.”

“What about you and Paige?”

“I think we were kind of doomed from the jump. We always wanted different things we just weren’t talking about it.”

“I get it.”

“What about you and Emma?”

“She’s my best friend.”

“Not trying to say she isn’t but she’s kind of whacked in the head isn’t she?”

“I mean, she can be... just so much sometimes.”

“Sometimes?”

“Okay, a lot of the time.”

“I’ll give her credit that when I was messing with her she threw down and didn’t shy away from it.”

“What do you think about her?”

“I think she’s even more lost than you but the more infuriating thing about her is that she thinks she’s right.”

Manny considered that for a moment.

“I think you might have a point,” Manny said.

Alex shrugged in the darkness. Manny realized that they had been driving for some time. She had texted Snake, Emma and Spike that she was going to be staying over Liberty’s and had texted Liberty to cover for her. She was in the clear.

She looked around though and saw that they had not only left the city behind but the suburbs as well. They were driving through some kind of forested region.

“Where are we going?” Manny asked. “Are you going to bury me out here?”

“Nah, my mom’s boyfriend is having some friends over so I wanted to get out of the house,” Alex said. “It’s a nice enough night that I thought like going to my quiet place.”

“You have a quiet place?”

“Sometimes I have to get away from it all.”

“That sounds nice.”

“I’ll make you a deal, if you want to get away and I can do it we can head out here.”

“That sounds great.”

“Cool.”

They turned off the road onto a dirt road. Manny felt herself getting nervous as Alex maneuvered the car between the trees. Sensing her nervousness, Alex reached across the center console and held Manny’s hand.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Alex said.

Manny felt a blush rise in her cheeks and knew that Alex was telling the truth. She squeezed Alex’s hand back. Alex stopped the car and put on the emergency brake. She went back to the trunk and unlocked it. Manny stood next to the car, shivering. She almost jumped out of her skin as Alex whipped a puffy down jacket at her. She put it on and helped Alex carry their load.

“Where do we go now?” Manny asked.

“Follow me,” Alex replied.

The two of them started walking and soon Manny saw where they were going. They were on a cliff and the lights of the city twinkled below them.

“Oh my god!” Manny said.

“It’s nice, right?” Alex said laying out a blanket.

“How did you find this place?”

“I just went for a drive and came across it.”

“Do you and you friends have parties out here?”

“Nah, this is my place. I don’t want to share it with anyone.”

Manny was confused.

“Then why me?” Manny asked.

“Because you’ve had a rough time of it,” Alex said.

“I don’t want to be pitied.”

“I don’t pity you. For that I would have to think you’re weak and you ain’t that.”

“You don’t think I’m weak?”

“The fact that you’ve been through that much shit and you still keep coming back to school. That takes some balls.”

Manny felt the blush return to her cheeks. What was happening to her? She only got this way around boys. She couldn’t be... no... that wasn’t her. That couldn’t be her. Couldn’t it?

Alex had finished setting up their picnic and patted the blanket next to her. Manny came over a little nervously and sat down. The two ate the ice cold fries and the rest of their snacks in silence. When they were done, they wrapped everything in the plastic bags they brought with them.

They sat back and watched the city.

“I think that this is what it looks like from the Hollywood sign,” Manny said. “I’ve always wanted to see that.”

“You will some day,” Alex said.

Manny felt the blush in her cheeks again. Her brain was storming over what her body was telling her. There were butterflies in her stomach. Why was this happening?

“What do you want, Alex?” Manny asked.

“I want to be happy,” Alex said after thinking. “I want to be somewhere safe with my mom and me. Someplace we wouldn’t have to worry.”

“That’s sweet.”

“My mom’s the best. She just attracts like the biggest losers in town.”

“I know what that’s like.”

Manny shook her head.

“I’m sorry, you’re telling me about your mom and I’m just thinking about myself,” Manny said.

“It’s okay,” Alex said. “I think the of you are similar, which would make sense considering you want to be a movie star.”

“Which is?”

“I think you want to be loved.”

Manny felt herself gutted to her core. She felt like the top layer of her skin had been stripped away. She shook her head. How had Alex known so much about her?

“I... I think... I think you’re right... how do you know all this?” Manny asked.

Alex shrugged.

“I think I’ve been hanging out with Marco for too long. His constant niceness and sensitivity is rubbing off on me,” Alex said.

“I wish I knew who to love,” Manny said.

“You just gotta find someone who gets you or you feel something for.”

Manny thought about what Alex was saying. She had never thought of her like this before, I mean, how many times had they talked before this? Once or twice? But she was always around and had she ever made fun of her for any of the things she had done? She couldn’t think of it.  
  
She glanced at Alex who was staring up at the sky. Something was moving through her body. She then knew what it was. In the strange fog and haze of her life, she would reach in and pull it out. The jewel of love. She had felt it with Craig and Spinner. Now she guessed that she was feeling it with Alex.

“Alex,” Manny said.

“Yeah?” Alex replied turning towards her.

Manny moved forward. She kissed Alex whose eyes went wide. Alex pushed her away and held her at arms’ length.

“What the hell?” Alex said. “What’re you doing?”

“I’m going for someone that I feel something for,” Manny said.

“Where did this come from?”

“I don’t know. I just know that I want to kiss you.”

“I mean, Manny, you’re beautiful and all that but I don’t want to be your experiment. I’m not a chemistry set.”

“I don’t know... I just feel towards you the same way that I felt towards Craig or Spinner. I want to give this a chance.”

Alex was confused and shook her head. But then she thought about how a cute girl wanted to kiss her. To hell with it.

She reached out to Manny and moved her hand head around the back of her head, pushing past her midnight hair. She kissed the girl on the lips, feeling the same softness and gentleness that she had when she kissed Paige. They kissed for a long time and then Alex peppered a kiss along Manny’s cheek then down towards her neck. She settled her lips along the vein that let her feel Manny’s pulse. Manny felt a shiver run through her. She moved back to Manny’s lips. She pushed her down to the blanket and moved on top of her. She kissed Manny’s lips and then used her hands to lift herself away from her.

“What’s wrong?” Manny asked.

“I want to just give you an out,” Alex said. “If I go too far or anything doesn’t feel right, let me know.”

“I’m loving all of this.”

Alex smiled and kissed along her collarbone. The stars moved overhead and Manny felt the earth move beneath her. After a long time, the two fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The sun awoke the two girls, touching their eyelids and causing them to flutter open. Alex sat up and stretched. Manny felt like a warm pillow. She sat up too behind Alex and drew her into her body. Alex leaned into her.

“Morning,” Alex said.

Manny reached to Alex’s hair and gently moved it over her shoulder. She then placed a kiss at the crook in her back of her neck. She ran her thumbs down the back

of her neck. She felt Alex shiver.

“Morning,” Manny replied.

The two of them watched the sun rise in full. They drove to the nearest town and had breakfast at a diner that Alex knew about.

“So, where do we go from here?” Manny asked.

“I mean, I would love to spend the day with you,” Alex said.

“I would like that too.”

“What’re you going to tell Emma?”

“She can deal with it.”

“I don’t want to make trouble for the two of you.”

Manny leaned forward and clasped her hands in front of her.

“She dated a boy who showed the entire school a video of my boobs,” Manny said. “I. Get. A. Pass.”

Alex reached out and took Manny’s hands in hers.

“Awesome,” she said.

Monday morning found Manny at her locker with Emma. Emma was telling her about some after school activity. Peter came striding up to them.

“Hey, Emma,” Peter said.

“Oh Jesus,” Emma said.

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“No, we’re not going to.”

“I don’t want to be talked about that way.”

“Walk away,” someone snapped from behind him.

Peter turned to see Alex standing over him.

“I’m not going-“ Peter started to say.

“Did I stutter?” Alex asked.

Peter looked at her for a long moment and then scampered away.

“And don’t try and put weed in my locker I don’t use it!” Alex called after him.

Alex moved forward and kissed Manny.

“I could get used to this,” Emma said.

“Ladies,” Alex said. “Let’s head to class.”

Manny reached out grabbed Alex’s hand. She felt the warmth of love in her heart and the steel of strength in her bones. Let the school or the world say what they wanted about them. Not like they gave a shit anymore.


End file.
